Dockside Outboard Maint: just bring a horse!

[ChuckD]

I performed my first outboard maintenance yesterday - onboard - using a Harbor Freight sawhorse. It fit right in the cockpit, and the outboard attached to it easily.

And I have to recommend the Topsider Oil Changer - it sucked the oil out completely, with no mess. I then removed the drain plug - nothing was left! (I did run a little fresh oil through, just to flush.) Also replaced the leg oil - emptied the old stuff into a plastic dish. Didn't have to transport the motor, or clog up dock traffic.

Maintenance card earned! Back to sailing!

[Tim Gardner]

Pictures, where are the pictures?
TG

[Bilgemaster]

Yeah, that Topsider outfit sure looks like a handy bit of kit...Bit bulky to stow aboard, but undeniably handy to bring to the boat for seasonal maintenance.  A more compact "make do" tool for this sort of thing might be Harbor Freight's Multi-Use Transfer Pump.  Not as elegant and fool-proof "tidy" as the Topsider, but it costs only just about $5 on sale or with one of their 20% off coupons, and with care it'll get the job done and stow handily in a plastic bag.  Still, next time I'm down near the Northern Tool outfit a half hour south of me on an ethanol-free fuel run, I believe I may pick a Topsider up.  This is not the first time I've heard superb things about them.

[Bristol14]

I bought one of the transfer pumps from Harbor Freight and while it worked for transferring gas, it won't pump viscous fluids like oil.

[Tom L.]

I second the Harbor freight transfer pump didn't pump. It really didn't pump much of anything and after a very short time it wouldn't prime. To me not worth the space it takes up. But that's just my opinion.
I use to use the Jabsco, I think it's called, little pal hand pump. It works well but is expensive a about $45.00

Tom L.

[ChuckD]

Ditto on the HF hand pump... had one, wasn't happy.

[Bilgemaster]

Hmmmm...I used a Harbor Freight one to pull the Automatic Transmission Fluid out of my old Durango towbeast when I first got her last year, and it worked a charm.  Once she started flowing, she even just carried on herself by siphoning action. She's slow, but she gets there. I've also used one for pulling 90 weight GL-4 gear oil or gasoline out of the Amphicar over the years.

I'll agree that some Harbor Freight wares are best avoided (I'm looking at YOU Crossbar Dent Repair Kit!), but I've always had happy thoughts about their Multi-Use Transfer Pump.

But yeah, one has to concede that the Topsider is in a different class of tools. It should be at ten times the price.